Extending the RP survey to the outer LMC

TL;DR

This study extends the survey of planetary nebulae in the outer Large Magellanic Cloud, discovering new candidates and confirming known ones, while providing spectral data for various astrophysical analyses.

Contribution

It expands the existing RP survey to a larger area of the LMC, identifying new planetary nebulae and providing spectral data for further research.

Findings

Discovered 93 new planetary nebulae in the outer LMC.

Confirmed 102 previously known planetary nebulae.

Collected spectral data for luminosity, abundance, and kinematic studies.

Abstract

We are extending our search for faint PNe in the LMC to include the outer 56 deg2 area not covered in the original UKST survey of the central 25 deg2 region. Candidate PNe have been selected using the Magellanic Cloud Emission Line Survey (MCELS) and the first round of observations has yielded 93 new LMC PNe while confirming the 102 previously known PNe in the outer LMC. We plan to continue our spectroscopic object identification program until we cover all our remaining candidates in the survey area. These observations, providing medium and high resolution spectra from 3650 Ang to 6900 Ang will additionally be used to measure fluxes for a series of research projects including luminosity functions, abundances and LMC kinematics.